Fare Well
by The Last Princess of Hyrule
Summary: [Folken x Hitomi] Love is closer than Hitomi thinks, but that doesn't mean it'll last forever. Folken still has his destiny to fulfill, after all. Happiness comes at a price ... and Fate has kept a tab.


**Author's Note:** This shall be my last piece submitted to this site. I won't bother to express my reasons for leaving. As always, reviews and constructive criticism are encouraged. Flaming for any reason, however, will not be tolerated. This is a Folken x Hitomi story. _DO NOT LEAVE REVIEWS SAYING THAT THIS SHOULD BE A VAN X HITOMI STORY._ I am painfully aware that Van x Hitomi is the preferred relationship for most of this fandom's readers. But I wanted to write Folken x Hitomi, so I did. If you don't like it, please do not read any further. Otherwise, thank you for your time.

**Disclaimer**: Folken, Hitomi and _Tenkuu__ no Escaflowne_ are copyright Bandai and Sunrise, all rights reserved. I am in no way affiliated with the business of these companies nor the creation of _Tenkuu__ no Escaflowne_ nor any legal proceedings of the aforementioned. This story has been written purely out of enjoyment and is not intended to amass monetary profit. Any similarities between my work and that of any other author is purely coincidental.

- x - X - x -

**"Fare Well"**  
By The Last Princess of Hyrule

- x - X - x -

_It was with a sullen frown that Hitomi Kanzaki inched open the cracked door to Folken's laboratory and stepped inside. In the employ of the Asturian royal family, he was provided with facilities such that met his needs in order to research and develop counteroffensive strategies for the Alliance forces. When not eating or sleeping (or sometimes even in lieu of these), it was here that Folken Fanel could be found. From her vantage point at the room's entrance, Hitomi could see the former Strategos seated at his work bench. Though turned away from her, she knew he wore an intent expression on his face as he studied sheets of schematics and folders of military reports, memorizing every line down to the insignificant detail. It seemed she couldn't go anywhere to escape that infernal war. Sighing, she pulled the door closed behind her with a loud bang._

_The sudden interruption of his stagnant silence caused Folken to jump. He turned around to locate the source of the annoyance and found Hitomi making her way down the stairs. "Hitomi," he said wonderingly, evidently surprised to see her. "A dungeon laboratory is no place for such a lady as yourself."_

_"I think it's perfect," Hitomi replied in a dour tone, her feet clunking down the wooden steps to the stone floor. "He'd rather kill me himself than let me go outside alone."_

_"I find myself doubting that your Knight Caeli has such ... drastic measures in mind," Folken said with only a moment's hesitation. In truth, everyone in Asturia knew the lengths to which Allen Schezar would go to keep Hitomi away from Zaibach._

_"Maybe, but this is exactly the kind of cage Allen would want to keep me in." Hitomi's argument was sound, one she knew Folken couldn't refute without lying. Frowning, she shook her head roughly. "But I really don't want to talk about him. I came down here to get away from all that." She left her place at the foot of the stairs and came up to Folken's workspace. Her curious eyes drifted over her surroundings, examining all sorts of strange looking devices until they stopped on a giant prism rising up before her. "What is it?"_

_Folken followed her gaze. "Oh, that. It's a device I recovered from the _Vione_. I designed it originally to work in conjunction with Dornkirk's Fate Alteration Engine, but it was damaged when the _Vione_ crashed." He shuffled through his notes as he spoke. "Theoretically, it could be used to manipulate fate in a manner similar to the Fate Alteration Engine, though on a much smaller spectrum." Folken produced a sheet of schematics from within the pile. "Here." He laid out the paper on his table where Hitomi could see it. She came closer to him and leaned over the table to look at what appeared to be a cross-section of the device that stood before them. "If I can repair it—" he began, looking up at Hitomi. Upon seeing her as if for the first time, Folken pursed his lips together. "Forgive me," he implored, eyes returning to his work. "I forgot myself for a moment. I do not mean to bore you with such mundane details."_

_"Huh? Oh, no." Hitomi shook her head, smiling for the first time that day. "I'm kind of curious, actually. I always kind of liked science in school and everything's so different here. I'd like to learn more, if you don't mind explaining it to me."_

_Though he didn't smile, Hitomi thought she saw Folken's expression brighten a little. He turned back to the paper. "Well, this device was originally designed to boost the power of Dornkirk's Fate Alteration Engine in Zaibach," Folken explained. "But now I am trying to disrupt the out-flowing of power from this device and reprogram it to store any energy it collects. That would allow me to use this machine as a smaller replica of Dornkirk's Engine and perhaps even manipulate Fate."_

_He traced his finger over the plans from one section to another, directing Hitomi's eyes across them so that she could easily see what he was describing. "If I can somehow strengthen the receptors here in the power core," which he indicated by drawing a circle around it with his finger, "then this machine should be able to use the undercurrents of Fate to manipulate objects within a certain radius." He moved his finger again and tapped a small illustration of a figure standing in the bounds of a circle. "The resulting reaction would alter the fates of the objects within the set field. Though not as powerful as Dornkirk's Engine, this device could probably transport objects in the field from one location to another, not unlike that pillar of light I have seen called forth by your pendant."_

_"You mean this thing could take you anywhere you want to go?" Hitomi asked hopefully, her eyes locked on the schematics for Folken's machine. _

_"In theory," Folken stressed._

_"Do you think, maybe, it could even send me back to Earth?"_

_"The Mystic Moon?"__ Folken repeated. "You miss your homeland."_

_Hitomi nodded softly. "Yeah. I just think—" she started, then suddenly cut herself off with a forced laugh. "No, never mind. It's silly."_

_"Do you really think so low of me that I would mock you for your reasons?" Though Hitomi was trying to pass off her unfinished thought as merely a misbegotten whim, Folken's question was grimly serious. "I know our meetings in the past have given you a less than favorable image of me, but I had hoped you never doubted the sincerity in my words or actions."_

_Hitomi looked down at her hands, rubbing them together in a nervous fashion. "It's stupid, but ... I kind of miss my family and ..." Here her cheeks grew warm. "... and Amano," she added in a small voice._

_"Amano?"__ The way Folken repeated the familiar name made it somehow sound foreign to Hitomi. Maybe it was just Folken's uncomfortable pronunciation of it. _

_"This ... guy I liked back on Earth," Hitomi managed to explain. How she described the situation made her feel even further away from everything she knew and held dear. "Back then, I believed in love at first sight. I thought ..." She sighed. "I thought we were meant for each other, like we were kindred spirits or something."_

_She blushed even more and laughed again nervously. "See, I told you it was silly." Her laughter died prematurely. "I think it was all in my head anyway." Just as she had come to realize that she didn't really love Allen, so she had understood such was true of Amano. It wasn't so much the men themselves Hitomi had been in love with, but the romantic idea they created in her mind. She loved the thought of them, the image of chivalry they had evoked in her imagination. Such baseless infatuation could only end in heartbreak; this Hitomi had learned._

_Folken was silent for a long time, so long that Hitomi thought he wasn't going to say anything at all, considering that his gaze had never once strayed from the papers before him. "The science of love is such that one cannot immediately understand its every aspect. Trial, error and meticulous experimentation are required in order to discover the true feelings behind the original infatuation," Folken said carefully, as if he were aware how delicate the territory of love was for Hitomi. "Do not be so quick to give up your pursuit, Hitomi," he advised. "You may be closer to the answer than you think."_

- x - X - x -

Folken pressed Hitomi down into the mess of linen sheets that were his bed in the guests' wing of the Asturian palace. His mechanical right hand traced the contours of her body, the cold metal fingertips leaving tiny goosebumps in their wake. The sensation made Hitomi giggle softly and her right hand journeyed to find his. She entwined their fingers, spreading her arms across the bed and forcing him to come close enough for a kiss. With this first kiss were sparks, sending a rush of heat through her chill body. Each surmounting kiss seemed only to raise the temperature between them until she saw little beads of perspiration form on Folken's brow. A warm summer's breeze drifted through the open window, providing a cool caress for their fevered skin.

They kissed without restriction, without a thought to anything around them. This could be their last night together, though only a few weeks had past since their first. They knew they could never keep this up. They tried to stay away from each other; oh, how they tried. But something, some force, stronger than reason and stronger than will, pulled them together—something that now would never let them go.

"Hitomi ..."

She heard Folken murmur her name and gazed up at him. Several strands of sky-colored hair fell over his shoulder into his eyes, which Hitomi reached up to brush away with her fingertips, tucking them behind his ear. As he traced her cheek with his index finger, she caught sight of her reflection in his copper eyes. The sight brought a smile to her lips.

"I must be in your heart," she whispered, "since I see myself in your eyes."

The statement caused his hand to still as Folken searched her eyes with his. "And so the same is true for me," he replied in a voice deep and heavy like dark velvet, a rare smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a kiss, aware that they shouldn't keep saying these things to each other. Every time they met, every time they spoke, every time they caught each other's glances from across the room, the threads that bound them grew stronger, tighter. Soon they would be trapped, unable to escape from this illicit web of a love affair. Soon their secret would be revealed and they would have to weather the consequences. Soon—

But on such nights as this, when Hitomi found herself inescapably entangled with Folken, 'soon' seemed so very far away. All she could think of was pulling him closer, taking in every precious second they had together and writing it down in her memory.

Through half-lidded eyes, Hitomi could see their vague shadows melting together on the far wall, flickering ever so slightly in the warm lamplight. She could hear the gentle patter of the rain weeping over the rooftop and wondered if it wasn't an ill sign. Outside was a world wracked by war that blamed her lover for its troubles. Outside were people who considered her nothing more than a weapon to be used against the Zaibach Empire. Even Allen, whom Hitomi had once believed she loved, no longer saw her as she was—a person only wanting peace on Gaea. She wished for the war to be over and for everyone to forget Folken's involvement in it. She wished for people to see her as a human being rather than a means to propagate war. Yet, despite her power to make wishes into truths, these were empty of any chance for change.

With practiced expertise, Folken undid the line of polished buttons running down Hitomi's blouse. The lamplight created soft shadows over the curves of her body and the healthy glow of her pink skin. As he leaned down to taste her, her hands fluttered over his chest, making short work of the clasps on his shirt and pushing it off his shoulders. Her skin burned under the caress of his fingers and her lips tingled with the passion of his kiss, her body weak at his touch. With lips parted, she let out a moan. Her trembling hand stroked his cheek, fingers winding tightly through his hair.

Things would never have gone this far if she had only been stronger. She could have borne Gaea's struggle if she had been able to wipe her own tears and stand against the Empire on her own two feet. But she couldn't; she was too used to depending on people. In these days, when it seemed like she couldn't even trust her friends, she spent her nights crying about them in study of Van's older brother. Folken calmed her through each fit of tears and Hitomi started to see him as more than the former Strategos of Zaibach. Before long, she found herself coming to see him even when she wasn't upset. If she had been stronger, she would never have discovered all the interests they shared; their intrigue for fate, their love for math and science and their hatred for senseless fighting. If she had been stronger, Hitomi would never have known there was a person who saw her as something other than the instrument of Gaea's salvation.

Hitomi reveled under Folken's touch, back arching and muscles tensing, growing dizzy with passion. Folken's hands were forceful in guiding her body through each stage of ecstasy, but his eyes as he gazed over her form were never anything but gentle. Her breathing grew labored, as did his, and her mouth hung open in a perpetual gasp. Her hands clung to his back, fingernails digging into his skin in an effort to keep from losing consciousness. Though her nails were sharp enough to draw blood, Folken showed no reaction to the pain. Outside, the rain grew harder, but Hitomi could no longer hear it. She no longer focused on the room around her or the dark ceiling above her head. All saw was Folken's body above hers, heard nothing more than sounds they made together and her own voice gasping his name. The thoughts in her mind spiraled out of control with fevered passion.

If others knew how they had fallen in love, could they honestly refute their feelings? Could they tell Hitomi that she must be confused? Could they tell Folken that a traitor had no right to love? But worse—what would they _do_? In the weeks since their affair began, Hitomi didn't dare let herself think about such a thing. Even now, she tried to shut her mind to it, but the horrible vision flashed through her mind. Outside Asturia, the war raged on, but soon, Zaibach would come to attack Palas. And when they did, Folken would be arrested and killed for betrayal. Hitomi could see herself in the crowd before the executioner's block, her eyes meeting Folken's and receiving only a weak smile as his final farewell.

Suddenly, her eyes snapped into focus with a gasp that made Folken draw back. His face, which until a moment ago had been soft and content, now contorted in concern. "What is it?" he asked.

Not hearing him, Hitomi sat up and drew one of the linen sheets over her shivering form. She stared right past him, her green eyes wide, the sight of that dying smile haunting her vision. She shook her head roughly, silently reprimanding herself for letting her mind go so far into unfounded fear.

A hand on her shoulder suddenly reminded Hitomi where she was, and she looked up to see Folken quite worried. "What's wrong?" he asked again, apprehension evident in his deep voice.

"It's nothing," she assured him with a wave of her hand. "I was just ... startled, that's all." She formed her lie with practiced ease. "You must have touched something sensitive," she added, forcing a wry smile to curl her lips.

Perhaps it came from his experience as a leader and a statesman, but Folken could easily see through Hitomi's lies, even those that fooled others. "I know every sensitive point on your body," he declared with such authority that it made Hitomi blush. "I understand why you feel you must lie to everyone else, but I wish you would be more forthcoming with me."

Hitomi looked down at the bed in shame. "It's nothing," she said again, not daring to look up. "Only my stupid mind wandering into places it doesn't belong."

"A vision, you mean?"

Hitomi shook her head roughly, her eyes beginning to burn. "No," she said firmly, as if by sheer force of will she could deny what she had seen. She cleared her throat to keep from crying, trying to hide any distress so as not to worry Folken more. Of course, her good intentions did not produce the desired results.

Folken caught sight of her tears when she tilted her head in such a way that the lamplight made them sparkle on her cheek. He moved closer to her and, with his artificial hand under her chin, forced her to look at him. Her clear green eyes pooled with tears that refused to recede. "Why do you cry so much more than smile in my presence?" he wondered aloud, the fear in his expression trading places with quiet dejection.

Pulling her head away, she rubbed her eyes roughly. "I wouldn't keep coming to you when I cry if you didn't always cheer me up," she replied, a small, honest smile coming to her face.

"Then won't you tell me what's wrong this time?"

His words, though well intended, only served to bring the chilling sight back to the surface of Hitomi's mind. She looked down at her lap again. He was right—she had no reason to hide things from him when he'd never done anything but care for her. "I'm just ... worried," she started, rubbing a nervous hand up and down her leg, creating wrinkles in the linen. "About the war ... and what'll happen if Zaibach attacks Palas." She swallowed hard. "I mean, I'm worried about what'll happen to you."

"You're worried that the people of Asturia are going to kill me," Folken surmised.

Hitomi nodded, still not daring to look up at him. She didn't want to see the expression that must have crossed his face, the disbelief and shock that his lover imagined him dying. She certainly didn't expect to hear him suddenly snort in amusement. Looking up, Hitomi found him bent forward with his arms clutching his sides, struggling to stifle the laughter that escaped his smiling mouth.

She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes, hardly able to believe that Folken, of all people, was mocking her like this. "Don't make fun of me," she ordered. "I'm serious."

"Oh, Hitomi," Folken began, wiping a tear from his eye. "Don't you remember last week when you told me saying you'd foreseen me killing Van in a fit of rage? I told you that if any such thing was going to happen, it would be _Van_ killing _me_." He chuckled, looking at Hitomi with a smile still on his face. "Hitomi, for a fifteen-year-old girl, you have a remarkably morbid imagination."

Hitomi turned indignant. "So, you don't believe my visions?"

"You know that isn't what I mean. I'm simply pointing out that nowadays you seem to have a startling number of them," Folken explained. "Far more than you said you had when you first arrived on Gaea. They cannot all come true. I think you need to consider more carefully which ones may actually become reality."

At these words, Hitomi's annoyance drained out to leave her somber and grim. "But ..." she protested, "but what if I ignore one that actually happens and someone ends up dying?" She choked on the word 'someone,' but both she and Folken knew who she was implying.

Folken smiled again, but this time his expression was devoid of any joy. "You shouldn't worry yourself about that." He turned away from her. "You see, I ... don't have much longer to live as it is."

Hitomi felt all the blood drain from her face and a lead weight drop in her stomach. Impossible. It was just impossible. He was making fun of her concerns again—he had to be. "Th-this really isn't funny anymore," she scolded, unable to keep her voice from quavering. He refused to face her. "Don't even joke about something like that."

"I wish I could." Folken closed his eyes, his expression contorted with pain. He was gripping his shoulders with the opposite hands, fingers tense and knuckles white. Hitomi heard several sickening cracks, and his black wings unfolded with agony from his shoulder blades, little rivulets of blood trickling down his back in their wake. Hitomi remembered the few times she had seen Van's wings and how much pain he appeared to be in as they grew forth. She could hardly keep from turning away.

"An adverse reaction to a reversal of fortune is shortening my life," Folken explained. "These black wings are proof of that." He turned back to her, his face looking labored and tired.

When she and Van had met Folken in Fanelia, Hitomi remembered his black wings to be strong and healthy. But now, Folken's wings were crumpled and scraggly, the once beautiful feathers devoid of their former shine. She tried to swallow her revulsion at the sight of the blood and withered wings, but only managed to further agitate the lump in her stomach. She shook her head back and forth, glancing only over the span of his wings and unwilling to meet Folken's eyes; seeing his face would make this sickening image all too true.

"I don't believe you," Hitomi said with as much conviction as she could muster. "When I saw you in Fanelia, you were fine."

"No, I wasn't." Folken didn't pursue the argument any further. "Hitomi, the more you deny it, the harder it is for me to accept that I won't be able to stay with you."

Hitomi kept shaking her head, her eyes welling up with tears once more. "That's ... that's all I really want," she sniffed.

Folken cupped her cheek in his hand and rubbed a few stray tears away with his thumb. This little action brought to pieces the show of strength Hitomi was trying to put on and she fell into his arms sobbing. He held her trembling body against his chest through her cataclysm of crying, one hand stroking her hair, the other wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Through his embrace, he was trying to protect her from a truth beyond his control, his defense childlike in its naïveté facing the fate he could not escape. He rocked her back and forth in a gentle rhythm, whispering reassurances to her and hoping they stuck.

"I just don't want to lose you," she mumbled into his chest. "Maybe it was stupid, but I was really starting to think I could have a future with you."

"I don't know how much longer I have, but let's not spend that time thinking about the future," Folken suggested softly. "We should enjoy the moments we have together now and make them into memories that will last the rest of our lives. From now on, I won't leave your side."

Hitomi nodded against him. Neither of them wanted to point out that the memories they made would be fleeting in Folken's mind and Hitomi would be left to carry them all on her own. All of the worries that had plagued Hitomi's mind at the beginning of the night now seemed trivial. She wished she had never complained about those problems in the first place, as if this were punishment for her ungratefulness.

Folken's deject wings crumpled away, disappearing until he called them out again and leaving in their wake a shower of shriveled black feathers. Folken picked up one and tickled Hitomi's nose, hoping for a pleasant reaction, but Hitomi couldn't even pretend to smile for his sake. Together, they lay back on the bed and pulled the linen sheet over their bodies. Hitomi turned away and snuggled up to Folken with her back against his chest, pulling his arm overtop of her as if it were another blanket and lacing her fingers with his. She feared that, if she didn't hang onto him, Folken would vanish in the night. Considering the circumstances of the world around them, her fears were not unfounded.

- x - X - x -

_Images like a fever dream flashed before her eyes, obscured only slightly by a red haze. In a mechanical world, a chill like ice rushed through her veins and over her skin, though her feet stayed warm in an inch-deep pool of blood. Suddenly, she saw Folken before her. He seemed to stare right through her, his eyes widening and body trembling. It was then that she realized the blood was coming from him, spurting from the wound in his chest, right below his heart. His black wings exploded in a fury of feathers that momentarily obscured Hitomi's sight. Then suddenly her eyes cleared and she found herself staring down at Folken's broken body, even his beautiful blue hair now red._

Instead of waking with the jolting force one would normally expect as the escape from a nightmare, Hitomi opened her eyes slowly and greeted the gray dawn with a calm heart. This dream had haunted her every night of the week that had passed since Folken told her of his impending death. As per his instruction, she tried not to dwell on the disconcerting images, but found them replayed nightly in the theatre of her mind nonetheless. At first, her only escape from the nightmare was through wakefulness brought about by her screams, but seven repetitions of the same horror had soon dulled her reaction to it.

Hitomi stretched out her arms with a yawn and looked to her side to find the other half of her bed empty. It was this sight that finally caused her to stir with panic. She scrambled out of bed as if a spider had just dropped next to her, former calm replaced immediately by apprehension. Yesterday morning she had woken to Folken still asleep next to her. The morning before that he had been standing on the balcony watching the sea. The morning before that he had been half dressed and looking around the floor for his shirt. For seven nights they had fallen asleep together, either in his bed or hers, and the following six mornings Hitomi had woken to his presence. Last night had been uncharacteristically cold in Palas, so they made love on a blanket before the fire. When the coals in the hearth had grown cold and dawn was still hours away, Hitomi had felt Folken pick her up and carry her to bed, where she fell asleep again immediately. This morning, contrary to his word, Folken was gone.

She didn't even ponder going to look for him; she had decided this without even thinking. After a few minutes searching the floor, Hitomi managed to locate her skirt, hastily pulling it on while still scanning the room with her eyes to find her shoes and blouse. Her disheveled hair and missing bra were about as far from her mind as thoughts of what sounded good for breakfast. She spotted her blouse crumpled amongst the bed sheets and, as she reached for it, caught sight of a piece of parchment folded atop Folken's pillow.

_Hitomi –_ It read when she opened it.

_Though our time together was all too short, I fear that we must now part. With each blessed day I have spent with you, Fate has kept a tab. The time has now come to repay my debt, not only to whatever gods brought me happiness in these my final days, but for all the ruin I brought upon Gaea in my former ignorance. Hitomi, I would wish for nothing more than your love, even if offered any other heart in this world. I have no more regrets and I hope the same is true of you. I pray that you fare well in the wake of what I hope is a new world._

_— Folken Fanel_

- x - X - x -

Hitomi threw open the door to Folken's laboratory and it crashed against the stone wall with a resonant bang. Her panicked eyes darted across the room as she panted for breath, unable to even call the name of the one for whom she so desperately searched. Folken was nowhere to be seen. She hurried down the stairs toward the desk, hoping it might hold some clue to his whereabouts.

It was difficult to gaze into the darkness of the laboratory, impossible to make out shapes lurking amongst shadows hiding secrets. She lit the lamp that sat at the edge of the desk. As the fledgling blaze gasped for oxygen, its flickering light glinted off an unmistakable ruby stone. Hitomi lunged for her pendent and snatched it from the nest of papers, scattering them in the process. She wound the frail golden chain around her trembling fingers, eyes locked on the iridescent red stone. Inside were answers she so desperately sought, but the stone told her nothing of Folken's whereabouts.

Or did it?

Hitomi gazed up at the daunting prism-shaped machine she always found Folken working on. This device was supposed to be able to interfere with the powers of fate somehow, or so he had told her. But at the same time, he had also lamented that, for all of Zaibach's science, it was impossible to replicate the pillars of light Hitomi could create with her pendant. He had struggled with the machine in his laboratory, but in tests, he had never managed to recreate a similar phenomenon. Her eyes drifted back to the pendant and found the hand that held was trembling. She curled her fingers over the stone and pressed it to her chest. The graceful calligraphy of Folken's letter scrawled its way across her mind's eye. _"I pray that you fare well in the wake of what I hope is a new world."_

No.

The fear that had gripped her on her frightened race to the dungeon laboratory left her suddenly, anger and frustration taking its place. Hitomi tightened the fist at her chest, fingernails digging uncomfortably into her palm.

She could see the platform beneath Emperor Dornkirk's massive telescope; she could hear the screeching holler of mechanical gears laboring toward a united Gaea that could never exist under Zaibach's control. She could imagine Folken amidst the heart this tumultuous world, standing at the center of the platform and shouting up at the Emperor, his presence a precursor to disaster, as it had always been since Hitomi first came to Gaea.

"No," she whispered, not allowing her mind to visualize what would come next. She shook her head back and forth, closing her eyes against the vision that was sure to come; an image of what naturally followed such an absolute act of treason. "No more deaths, please," Hitomi pleaded.

A sudden burst of light erupted behind her closed eyelids, causing them to shoot open instantly. A circle of light spread out beneath her feet and grew upward from the floor, a familiar tugging sensation along with it. Hitomi's body became weightless and she closed her eyes against the harsh light. With ferocity that always made her stomach churn and her head spin, the pillar of light sent her hurtling toward an unknown destination. So intent on keeping herself from losing consciousness, Hitomi didn't notice her feet touch ground until the voice she had been seeking called out her name incredulously.

"H...Hitomi?"

Hitomi opened her eyes to find herself standing in no less than the exact spot she had envisioned Folken, facing Dornkirk's throne at the dark heart of Zaibach. And atop that throne stood not the emperor, nor a usurper, but a black-winged, broken angel covered in blood. Hitomi's heart stopped as her eyes met Folken's, his visage filled with emotions she had never seen him express, even at the peak of intimacy. Yet of all the things she saw, his eyes held no sadness, no regret. What prevailed was a light of surprise that faded firmly into lifeless darkness.

Screams ripped through her throat as Folken fell from the throne, a rush of black feathers left in his wake, but all Hitomi could hear was a heavy buzzing resonating within her skull. Though she couldn't breathe, she somehow took in enough air to keep crying out his name. Her entire body went rigid as she fell forward onto her hands and knees, rough pieces of iron scraping through her skin. Her palms were bleeding, but she couldn't feel the sting. One free hand shot out and grabbed at her chest, clutching her blouse and yanking at it as hard as she could, as a heavy thud echoed through the room.

"No more!" she wailed, eyes burning with tears. "I don't want to see anymore! I'm sick of this kind of fate!"

A new pain suddenly erupted on her back, as if flesh was being flayed from bone with a molten brand. Hitomi collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath and gripping her shoulders. She felt a sickening crack and, with an agonizing groan, something began to _grow_ from her shoulder blades. Hitomi bit down on her tongue at the painful tugging sensation, unable to pinpoint precisely what was happening. It was almost as though she was growing ...

Wings.

The first white feather dropped down in front of Hitomi's pale, sweaty face. It glistened in the artificial light, still wet from birth. She unwrapped her arms from around her shoulders and reached out one trembling, blood-flecked hand to touch it, suddenly calmed by the silky sensation. Even though she couldn't actually feel the feather, she knew how it was supposed to feel. In that same sense, she knew it had come from the glorious white wings that had grown from her back, a pair of angel's wings for Gaea's otherworldly goddess.

It took every ounce of strength she could muster for Hitomi to push herself to her feet. With the advent of her wings had come a newfound confidence, a realization that she need no longer stand idly by as Fate did with her as it pleased. Her powers had transcended mortal comprehension, evidenced by her new appendages; she could undo what had been done. No longer did she have to watch life after life end before her eyes. No longer did she have to watch war destroy this world that had become her home. No more.

"No more."

Tying the glowing pendant around her neck, Hitomi walked to the edge of the iron platform with only the shaking in her legs to belie the conviction with which she moved. With great effort, she spread her white wings out full, arms with them. She drew in only one deep breath before she stepped away from everything she once knew and soared into a new oblivion.

- x - X - x -

**THE END.**

- x - X - x -


End file.
